EGU2020-1207, updated on 31 Jan 2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1207
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Drying Lakes: A Review on The Health Conditions and Restoration Strategies

Anchita Anchita1, Kamshat Tussupova1,2, and Peder Hjorth1
Anchita Anchita et al.
  • 1Lund University, Lund, Water resources engineering, Lund, Sweden (an4347cc-s@student.lu.se), (peder.hjorth@tvrl.lth.se)
  • 2Department of Public Health, Karaganda State Medical University, Karaganda 100004, Kazakhstan (kamshat.tussupova@tvrl.lth.se)

Abstract: Decrease of saline lakes, which comprises of 44% of all the available lake water, is a major concern. It additionally brings to desertification process to the region. Thus, various countries have taken different actions in protecting their lake’s water level. The aim of this paper is to assess different strategies directed to tackle the decreasing saline lake water levels. Lake Urmia and the Aral Sea which split into North Aral and South Aral were among the world's largest saline lakes and now have reduced to 10% of their original size. A thorough review of academic reports, official documents and databases were considered. Although the dry-up of the lake is a natural process, it has been sped up by human interventions in the hydrology cycle. Dust storms (strong winds) in the case of the Aral Sea, transmit the pollutants from dry lake surface which initially accumulated in the lakebed causing severe health issue. Various strategies were implemented to manage the socio-economic conditions caused due to the drying of lakes. The strategy implemented for the North Aral Sea was to restore the lake by reducing the water withdrawal from tributary rivers which leads to increased water level in the sea. The strategy implemented for Lake Urmia was to restore the lake by water transfer activities from neighbouring water sources which until now show no increase in water level. The strategy implemented for the South Aral Sea was to use a dry lakebed to diversify the economy by oil and mineral extraction which shows the adaptation to the environmental conditions with no restoration strategy. As a conclusion, it is found that there is no common best solution for this kind of problem. The best fit depends on the local context and it is strongly path dependent. 

Keywords: Drying saline lake; Dust storms; Aral sea; Health impacts; Lake Urmia; Restoration of saline lake; Strategies.

How to cite: Anchita, A., Tussupova, K., and Hjorth, P.: Drying Lakes: A Review on The Health Conditions and Restoration Strategies, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1207, 2020.

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